Cold-air deflector



. Nov. s, 1928. 1,690,323

J. w. BARNHART COLD AIR DEFLEGTOR Filed Sept. 2l, 1925 Patented Nov. 6,Y 1.928.

JOHN W. BARNI-IART, F GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- INTS, T0 KELVINATOR CORPORATION', 0F `DETROIT; MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION y 0F MICHIGAN. l

COLD-AIR DEFLECTOR.

Application led September 21, 1925. Serial No. 57,539.

rlhis invention relates to a cold-air deHector particularly applicable to refrigerators. In refrigerators, when the door to the ice chamber is opened, there isa tendency for thef cold air within the refrigerator and around the ice to ass outwrardl through the door opening an by reason o its heavness, to pass downwardly over the front of the refri erator Vbelow the ice chamber door-opening, w ereby a condensation of moisture against the front surface of the refrigerator occurs. This is very detrimental to the construction o f the refrigerator casing, injuring the varnished finish thereof and eventually swelling the joints between the pieces of wood making up the front frame ofthe case, the alternate swelling and shrinking at said joints causing a rapid deterioration of the refrigeratorcase construction and its appearance at the' front, as is'evident. l v

The present invention is concerned with an extremely simple means for deflecting the cold .air which normally would pass outwardl and downwardly through the ice chamber oor o ening when the door is opened, so that ins it asses downwardly inside ofr the cold air d ector, under the ice holding rack within the ice chamber and downwardly thro h the Hue between the ice chamber and one o the provision chambers located directvly below said ice chamber. This results not only in the elimination of moisture condensa` tion with the resultant `detrimental effects to the refrigerator casing but alsoresults 1n a saving of ice in that the cold air is saved from Y dissipation and warm air to take 1pts place does not have to be refrigerated and have itsl heat removed, with the resultantexpenditure,

of ice to eH'ect such result. I

It is a primary object and purpose of the present invention to provide a cold air de- Hector of the simplest form and construction which is readilyV applied to the refrigerator at the front lower portion of the ice chamber, which can be applied without the use'oftools of any sort and which can beas easily, re-

moved when necessary for the introduction of ice into the'ice chamber. To these ends as well vas vothers not at this time specifically stated I have made 'the construction illusvtlated 'inv the accompanying drawing, `in Iwhich, A

- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a refrl erator having its doors openedA and showmg t e cold closed position or vice versa.

the ice. Y

air deflector located at the front lower por-Y tion of the ice chamber. f v

Fig. 2 is a somewhat enlargedvertical sec-` tion through the refrigerator, the section be- Y ing taken through the ice chamber and the prtvision compartment directly beneath it, an

Fig. 8 is an enlarged perspective View of the cold air deHector.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in the different figures of the drawing.

The refrigerator l may be of any wellknown type of construction and in that shown I it includes an elongated vertical provision compartment 2 at one side occupying substantially one-half of the inner space of the refrigerator, while at the opposite side is an ice chamber 3 located at the upper corner ofl the refrigerator, below -which is a second smaller provision compartment 4. These various chambers and compartments Ahave openings at the-front through the refrigerator casing which may be closed by doors 5, 6 and 7,' respectively, hingedly mounted so that the same may be swung from open to Y A horizontal partition 8 divides the ice chamber f3 from the lower and smaller provision compartment 4, there being a vertical Hue 9 through said partition connecting the ice chamber with the compartment 4. Also a lateral'Hue l0 is made through the refrigerator lining between the smaller provision compartment 4 and the l: rger provision compartment 2 near the lower end of the latter, and a third Hue l1 is made through the refrigerator linings of the compartment -2 and the ice .chamber at the upper ends thereof. With ice in the. ice chamber the cold air passes fromthe ice downwardly through the Hue 9, thence laterally through the Hue 10, upwardly through the provision compartment 2, vand thence laterally through the Hue 11 back to. the ice, there -being a continuous circulation of the air whichv is continuously cooled by 100 When the door 6 to theice compartment is opened normally'the cold air will pass from the ice compartment .outwardly atlthe lower end of, the door opening and Idownwardly* over the outer surface of the front of the r frigerator casing, warm air from the out# side passing into the ice compartment at the upper end of the door opening. The frame at the front of the refrigerator on which the doors are mounted includes a horizontal cross member 12 located at the front edge of the partition 8, the member 12 having a portion eXtendinGr above the upper side of'said partition. 'file door openings are defined by this horizontal partition and a vertical partition 13 located substantially midway between the sides of the refrigerator. This partition 13 has edge portions extending inwardly from each side of the vertical" parts of the refrigerator lining between the provision compartment 2 at one side of the refrigerator and the ice chamber and compartment 4 at the opposite side of the refrigerator. Likewise that part of the casing on which the door 6 is hingedly mounted has inwardly extending portions projecting inward beyond the lining of the ice chamber.

The cold air deflector which I have devised comprises a rectangular plate of sheet metal 14, at its upper and lower edges, being turned back upon itself, as indicated at 15, for a short distance so as to make smooth edges which will not injure the fingers of one handling the same. The length of this plate is slightly lessl than the distance between the opposite sides of the lining to the ice chamber whereby it may be located vertically in the ice chamber between the sides of the ice chamber lining. This length however is greater than the width of the door opening for the door 6 so that the ends of the member 14 bear against the rear side of the vertical part 13 and the rear side of the inwardly projecting ortion of the case where the door 6 is hinged y mounted. The lower edge of the deiiector 14 rests against the lining placed over the partition 8 and back of that portion of the cross member 12 of which extends above the partition 8. The ice is carried on an ice rack 16 and the deliector is located at the rontof the ice chamber and in front of the ice rack, it being of a width such that it extends a distance upward approximately one-quarter toone-third of the height of the ice chamber door, though the particular height to which the deiector may extend may be varied considerably.

The deiector 14, it is evident, may be readily placed in position without the use of any tools whatever and the same may be removed whenever it is desired quite as easily. It is removed during the time when the ice is bein placed in the ice chamber and then immediately put back in position. The cold air tending to drop downwardly and thence outwardly through the door opening tothe ice chamber passes back of the deflector 14 and downwardly and under the ice rack 16 through the flue 9 and thence through the lines 10 and 11, being deliected from passing outwardly and downwardly over the outer face of the refrigerator casing.

This very simple device applied as shown and described is particularly useful in this relation. Its simplicity of construction and application to the refrigerator makes it very economical from a manufacturing standpoint and particularly convenient to use. The saving of the cold air is one advantage of the device while the prevention of moisture condensation against the front of the refrigerator connection below the ice chamber door opening is of great value especially if the ice cham- ,ber door should not fit tightly or to be left slightly ajar. The invention fully secures both of these advantages and has proved its practical merit for a considerable time in actual practice. The invention is defined in the appended claims and is to be considered as comprehensive of all forms of structure coming within their scope.

I claim:

1. In a refrigerator having an upper ice chamber and a lower provision compartment directly below the ice chamber with a partition having a flue opening through the same disposed horizontally between the ice chamber and said provision compartment, said ice chamber havin an openlng at the front adapted to be c osed by a door, of an unattached plate vertically positioned in the front lower portion of the ice chamber and supported at its lower edge against the upper side of said partition, said plate being of greater width than the door openin and extending upwardly a portion of the height of the door opening and being freely removable from and replaceable in the ice chamber through the door opening.

2. In a refrigerator having an upper ice chamber and a provision compartment directly below the ice chamber with a horizontal partition disposed between the ice chamber and provision compartment having a vertical flue openincr therethrough, and said ice chamber at its fiont havin an entrance opening normally closed by a oor, of an unattached plate having a width greater than the distance between the vertical edge of the openin and shorter than the distance between the si es of the ice chamber disposed vertically at the front lower portion of the ice chamber and at its lower edge bein supported by said horizontal partition, saigfl7 plate being free from connection to any part of the refrigerator and removable through said door openmg.

3. In combination with a refrigerator hav ing an ice chamber provided with a door opening at its front side and a door hingedly connected to the refrigerator to close said door opening, and with an ice rack located in the lower portion of said ice chamber, of a cold air deector plate located vertically in the front lower portion of the ice chamber and in iront of the front edge of said ice rack, said plate extending above said ice rack and covering the lower portion of said door opening and being freely removable from and replaceable in said ice chamber.

4. In comblnatlon wlth a refrigerator having an ice chamber provided with a door open- Y v air deflector ilate having a greater width vthan the Widt of the vdoor opening and located vertically in the front lower portion of the ice chamber and in front of the front edge of Ysaid ice rack, said yplate extending above said ice rack and covering the Vlower por.

tion of -said door o enin and being freely removable from an rep accable in4 said ice chamber.

5. In combination, a refrigerator having walls defining a cooling compartment one of said walls having an opening therethrough affording access to said compartment, and a door for closing the opening in said wall; an ice supporting rack at the bottom of said compartment; and an lmattached cold air deflector plate of greater Width and less hei ht than the `openin affording access to sai compartment, sai plate being maintained in upright position intermediate said rack and the wall of said compartment having the opening thereinand being removable .through the -wall openmg.

In testimony whereof 1 aix my signature.

JOHN W. BARNHART.' 

